The journey to financial independence begins where you are now, but with a roadmap that has successfully guided others to the destination of financial security.
Your American Legacy
Don’t Lose What You Have
You can risk your time. You can risk your interest. But never, under any circumstance, risk your principal. If you have a principal, you can recover. If you don’t, you have to start from scratch. Make certain you are not at risk of losing what you have already spent years of hard work to earn. Good news: It can prevent catastrophic loss by partnering with a PLL legal team to thoughtfully structure asset ownership and special kinds of trusts.
Save and Invest Systematically
One piece of advice PLL offers with confidence backed by scientific data is this: Hire a financial planner to be your coach and mentor. One study found that a professional advisor may add as much as three percentage points of value in net portfolio returns after taxes and fees. The greatest value a professional advisor can provide is behavioral coaching. This is particularly important when the markets are turbulent and you are tempted to abandon your asset allocation and move to cash. Our legal teams partner with financial advisors that can be referred based on our clients’ referrals.
Be Wary of Debt, and Avoid Consumer Debt Entirely
Warren Buffett spoke to a group of University of Nebraska students, advising them of the dangers of credit card debt, “Interest rates are very high on credit cards. Sometimes 18, 20 percent. If I borrowed money at 18 or 20 percent, I’d be broke.” While utilizing debt in your business or acquiring real estate may make sense, there should always be a plan to reduce and eventually eliminate that debt over time.